Inflammatory bowel disease activity assessed by fecal calprotectin and lactoferrin: correlation with laboratory parameters, clinical, endoscopic and histological indexes

A total of 78 patients presenting inflammatory bowel disease were evaluated. Blood tests, the Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI), Mayo Disease Activity Index (MDAI), and Crohn's Disease Endoscopic Index of Severity (CDEIS) were used for the clinical and endoscopic evaluation. Two tests were performed on the fecal samples, to check the levels of calprotectin and lactoferrin. The performance of these fecal markers for detection of inflammation with reference to endoscopic and histological inflammatory activity was assessed and calculated sensitivity, specificity, accuracy.A total of 52 patient's samples whose histological evaluations showed inflammation, 49 were lactoferrin-positive, and 40 were calprotectin-positive (p = 0.000). Lactoferrin and calprotectin findings correlated with C-reactive protein in both the CD and UC groups (p = 0.006; p = 0.000), with CDAI values (p = 0.043; 0.010), CDEIS values in DC cases (p = 0,000; 0.000), and with MDAI values in UC cases (p = 0.000).Fecal lactoferrin and calprotectin are highly sensitive and specific markers for detecting intestinal inflammation. Levels of fecal calprotectin have a proportional correlation to the degree of inflammation of the intestinal mucosa.Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) includes Crohn's Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC). These are chronic idiopathic conditions, marked by recurrent episodes of inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, interspersed with periods of remission. In order to determine the degree of inflammatory activity, it is of the utmost importance to monitor patient's clinical evolution and adjust their therapy [1].Various indexes are used to evaluate the activity of the disease, which differ from each other in terms of being more subjective (clinical), more objective (endoscopic-histological) or a combination of the two. However, despite the different indexes available, there is not yet any consensus in the literature as to which is the most valid. Laboratory parameters suc